new charter news HOMES LIMITED
I S S U E 3 2 : J A N U A RY 2 0 1 0
Resolve to be involved We offer many ways for you to get involved with us, and almost all our opportunities are open to every tenant. We can’t continue to improve without your help, your comments, your opinions. So you could make it your New Year resolution to get more involved with us. Maybe your interest is about your neighbourhood or a particular service such as repairs. But we will be particularly on the lookout this year for tenants who want to help govern our companies. When we consulted you and reorganised to form one landlord for our stock in Tameside, we changed the number of directors on our boards. Now we want to hold annual elections for a tenant director for New Charter Homes Limited. We have three tenant directors on this board, all of whom do a great job for us. Holding an election for one place each year means we don’t risk losing all their expertise in one year. We will consult the Tenant Management Team on the finer details of the election process before they are agreed. Our plan is to hold the elections this summer, so we anticipate calling for candidates in our next issue at Easter. The successful tenant will become a director at our Annual General Meeting in late September. This is a fantastic opportunity to shape and influence the services we offer to tenants. Whether you want to improve existing services or introduce new ones, we encourage you to think about putting your name forward. Our parent company, New Charter Housing Trust Limited has two places reserved for tenants. Here, we propose to fill or renew appointments by an application and interview process. This recognises the additional experience and strategic skills required by the Trust board. Again, we will shortly be consulting the Tenant Management Team.
Survey starts
Inside:
Our annual tenant survey starts this month. Once again, we’ve asked an independent specialist company to contact 1000 tenants by telephone to ask your opinion of our services and your satisfaction with New Charter. We don’t know individually what you say, but we do act on the results which we publish. If you’re contacted, please spare a few minutes to help us improve!
Page 4 - Unusual hobby? Page 7 - Measure us up Page 7 - Free lifesaver
Green giant!
One on 2
The tallest building in Hyde made a very public commitment to reducing greenhouse gases last month. An 8.5 tonne pod containing a fully fitted plant room was lifted by crane to the top of the 16-storey Chartist House.
I wish all our readers a belated happy New Year. 2010 certainly started with some challenges, mainly from the snow and ice. It’s given us some problems getting to your homes to respond to emergency repair requests and we are sorry if you’ve waited longer for us to fix things. Most of our homes are on the untreated side roads which remained treacherous as the council gave priority to the main routes through Tameside. In the worst of the weather our tradespeople did their best to get to you, but we had the same transport challenges as everyone using the roads. In very cold weather it might seem strange to have features on the danger of fire in the home but we’ve important messages for you which could be lifesavers. Elsewhere in this issue, we’ve news of our latest award, a successful end to anti-social behaviour at one address in Ashton, and the chance to bid for money to improve your neighbourhood and community. If you’ve an idea for a feature for future issues, please let me know and I’ll discuss it with our recently renewed editorial panel of tenants. Thanks to the panel for its help with this issue. David Rigby, Editor
As part of our 10 year investment plan, we are installing an innovative district heating system to the 93 apartments, 38 of which are sheltered housing. It will dramatically reduce CO2 emissions and give residents cheaper heating bills. We are also rewiring the shared areas of the tower block, but the narrow internal access to the roof meant the plant room could not be assembled there. So it was winched by a huge crane over 160 feet to settle on a specially strengthened platform. Some residents of the upper floors had to leave their apartments during the lift, and were provided with refreshments in both the lounge and a local supermarket cafe. continued on page 3
Cavendish 249, Cavendish Street, Ashton-under-Lyne OL6 7AT 0161 331 2000 newsletter@newcharter.co.uk
A month’s free shopping!
Cash giveaway What could you do with £500?
That’s the opportunity tenants who are thancs! cardholders get every three months. All are automatically entered into our quarterly prize draw, and the top prize is £250 of supermarket gift vouchers. Last issue’s winner Mr Seddon of Denton is pictured with his vouchers.
That’s the maximum grant we’re giving away from our Incentive community chest. And tenants with great ideas to benefit their neighbourhood have landed cash to do things as different as dancing classes, a holiday club and self-defence lessons. The money is available to support your initiatives which will make your area a better place to live. We invite applications on any of five themes:
• Inclusive society
We’ve been to Morrisons to provide three customers with fantastic free shopping – and all just for being good customers of New Charter. Their names were drawn from 6,000 customers who’ve enrolled in thancs!
• Environment
Our lucky prize winners are:
• Health and wellbeing • Economic prosperity • Safer stronger communities
Our shops have a leaflet which gives more details, and our awarding panel want to hear from you. Anne Pearson from Denton got her neighbours learning to dance to coincide with Strictly Come Dancing on TV. She said: “The form was simple, we’re had fun and made new friends. I’d recommend anyone to take advantage of the Incentive community chest.” You can also email us at communitychest@newcharter.co.uk for a leaflet, form or advice.
1st prize - £250 - Ms M Robinson,
But don’t delay – we’d like your event or activity to take place by Easter, so get those bids in today!
Nook Lane, Ashton 2nd prize - £150 - Mr H Worth & Ms P Hillson, Connery Crescent, Ashton
Green giant!
3rd prize - £100 - Mrs O Allcott, Enville Street, Audenshaw
continued from page 2 Our Director of Property Services Steve Nettleton said: “I thank all our residents for their patience and cooperation. We planned the operation to cause minimal disruption for them and the surrounding neighbourhood. I’m pleased it went without a hitch.
Our thancs! scheme provides a mixture of rewards for individuals and neighbourhoods. We’ve offered supermarket vouchers for some time now, and we know they are popular with our winners. But if you’d like to suggest alternative prizes let the editor know.
“We expect the new heating system to reduce CO2 emissions from 160,000kg to 69,000kg. As importantly for our residents, heating bills should fall and space will be gained by removing individual boilers.” Twenty solar panels were also lifted into place. They will preheat the water circulating to the boiler to reduce running costs still further.
If you’re not already a thancs! cardholder, you can apply by ringing us on 0161 331 2400.
3
No slip-ups with Direct Debit
Have you a hobby?
We offer many ways to pay your rent. And faced with the snow and ice at the beginning of this month, many tenants realised just how convenient Direct Debit is. For them, there was no struggling through the wintry conditions to pay!
Tenant Sam Alcock of Hyde has been happily married for almost 60 years. But we’ve discovered he has a secret mistress... Fear not, we are not about to shock his wife. For Mrs Alcock knows all about his passion for FBG 628E, a 1967 Morris Minor 1000 Traveller. Sam used to own a similar car in the late 1950’s and remembered it as a luxury drive “like a Humber Super Snipe”, which older readers may recall.
You can choose to pay weekly on a Thursday, or monthly on the 15th or 22nd of each month. Banks and many building societies offer Direct Debit. And if you have rent-free weeks, you keep that advantage.
His fondness for the car was rekindled when he learnt of a specialist restorer of Morris Minors in Manchester. Since he bought it, he’s enjoyed showing it off at rallies and shows organised by the Tame Valley Vintage and Classic Car Club. And not surprisingly, it’s won several awards for its showroom condition.
Why pay by Direct Debit? • An easy and convenient payment method • Payments are made on time • Helps you to budget and organise your finances
Sam’s also a member of the Morris Minor Owners Club and has researched the previous history of the car. It was owned by a family on the Wirral, so he will be trying to contact them as he will be exhibiting the car at Ellesmere Port this year.
• Guaranteed refund in the event of an error • You will not need to contact your bank or building society when your rent changes
We’d love to know if you have a hobby that would be of interest to our readers. Perhaps there’s something which takes up your leisure time and which we can get an interesting photograph to illustrate. Contact the editor (details on page 2).
• We will notify you of any changes to your Direct Debit
Win for Mill team
Setting up a Direct Debit with New Charter is simple, and we’re happy to help. Obviously, you must make sure you have sufficient money in your bank or building society account when your payment is due. It is sensible to check your bank statement regularly to ensure that your Direct Debit is going out as agreed.
Our team responsible for transforming a converted mill won a top prize at the Social Landlords Crime and Nuisance Group’s ‘Delivering results’ awards 2009. We bought Cavendish Mill which stands opposite Asda in Ashtonunder-Lyne in June 2008. We knew its previous reputation but were confident we could turn it around. Intensive management, a determination to tackle anti-social behaviour and engaging with residents has transformed it into a quieter, safer and more desirable place to live.
Telephone us on 0161 331 2224, or call into any of our shops (addresses on page 8) for a Direct Debit form. You can also download it from our website (select Online Services).
The seven-storey Grade II listed building was rescued from dereliction in 1992, and converted to residential use. But by 2008 the building was badly neglected and in need of major improvements.The surrounding community also suffered. Police frequently dealt with incidents of assaults and serious crime in the Mill’s vicinity.
4
Last chance to comment
We formed a multidisciplinary team with complementary skills to tackle the root causes of the problems. This team was given responsibility and authority to do whatever was needed to rejuvenate the Mill and make it a safe place for residents. The team included cleaners, caretakers, neighbourhood management, enforcement staff, and dedicated legal support.
The Tenant Services Authority (TSA) is the government regulator for New Charter and other registered providers of social housing. We’ve featured it in our previous issues. It wants to know what you think of the national standards it has drawn up. They’re based on what tenants, landlords and other stakeholders have told the TSA is important to get right. This statutory consultation sets out the six standards that social housing providers like New Charter will have to meet from April 2010. There are also two supplementary consultation papers on the use of the TSA powers and on consents to disposals.
The team believed residents were the key to transform the Mill and it used various involvement activities to get residents engaged and contributing. It also increased the use of a Resource Centre in the Mill. In the first year, around 20 residents were referred to a support agency funded by us which made a positive impact on their lives. Managing Director of New Charter Homes, Tony Powell said: “The team included some of our anti-social behaviour specialists but also worked closely with Greater Manchester Police to address criminal issues. Police held surgeries at the Resource Centre so residents could speak in confidence to them.
The six new standards set out in this document for social housing providers are the centrepiece of the new regulatory framework. They describe the outcomes the TSA wants to see delivered and the specific requirements it expects all providers to comply with in meeting these outcomes. It believes the best place for the quality of services to be discussed, agreed and scrutinised is locally between providers and their tenants. So the standards require New Charter to set out what we offer to tenants and set local standards that reflect the priorities of local communities.
“We used injunctions, possession actions, warnings and support to those whose behaviour was related to particular needs, especially mental illness.” The effect of the work has been remarkable. We took firm action on tenancy breaches including nine evictions. Police and Fire services report a dramatic decline in incidents, and security alerts and incidents have fallen from an average of 35 a week to just 2. Resident Kevin Kissane has lived in Cavendish Mill throughout the transformation. He said: “It is a different place now from just over a year ago. There’s a sense of community – residents get involved and talk to one another. We don’t see Cavendish Mill as a home of last resort any more. It’s better and safer, and I’m proud to live here.”
The closing date for responses to the TSA consultation is 5 February 2010. You can read the national standards and respond on its website www.tenantservicesauthority.org. Or contact our Tenant Participation team on 0161 331 2400 and we’ll send you a copy.
The award, sponsored by ReACT was presented to the team at the Social Landlords Crime and Nuisance Group conference in Telford. Our investment in the Mill continues with work to replace all 333 windows.
5
Open to all tenants
Cumberland closure For the first time in Tameside, police used their powers to close a family’s home in response to persistent anti-social behaviour.
Why not come along to a Board meeting at New Charter? They usually last no more than 2 hours and are held in the early evening at Cavendish 249 in Ashton. You are not able to speak, but you can watch how the Board works, and you will have a set of papers to follow the proceedings.
For 18 months, numerous complaints were made to the police, Tameside council and ourselves about serious persistent nuisance and disorder at 10 Cumberland Grove in Ashton-under-Lyne. Despite a number of verbal and written warnings, the tenant and members of her household continued to cause, or allow anti social behaviour at the property.
Take a look at the following dates and if you can attend, or would like more information, please contact Laura Douthwaite on 0161 331 2000. New Charter Homes Limited Wednesday 3rd February 2010 at 6pm Wednesday 14th April 2010 at 6pm New Charter Housing Trust Limited Tuesday 16th February 2010 at 6pm
Transfer online
In November 2009, we obtained an Anti-Social Behaviour Injunction with power of arrest attached. The tenant breached this, was arrested and spent a week in custody before appearing in front of a District Judge. She was warned any further breaches would be dealt with severely. But further nuisance followed.
You can now apply for a transfer by using our website, www.newcharter.co.uk. Tests with customers suggest it takes around 15 minutes to complete an application for a household with children. Simply click on Find a Home and follow the links.
The tenant and members of her household continued to cause anti social behaviour, so the Police agreed to apply to the magistrates’ court for a Premises Closure Order using powers and procedures provided by the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 as amended by s.118 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. It is not a power open to New Charter and is only used as a last resort where previous interventions and enforcement activity have not succeeded.
Alternatively, ring us on 0161 331 2345, give us your email address or mobile number and we will send you the link. You can use the same telephone number for help and assistance when applying online.
At a hearing last month, magistrates granted a three month Closure Order. This means anyone who enters the property commits an offence and can be arrested, and face a substantial fine or imprisonment.
The new service is also for new applications for our homes. So if you have friends or family who want to apply, spread the word.
After magistrates granted the order, the tenant consulted her legal representative and voluntarily ended her tenancy.
6
How do we compare? N?<E JKIFB< JKI@B<J# 8:K =%8%J%K%
We pride ourselves on our performance, but there’s no need just to take our word for it! You can now use a simple tool from our regulator, the Tenant Services Authority which lets you compare local landlords on the web. The tool is easy to use, but you’ll need to be careful to type in the address correctly. It is: http://portal.tenantservicesauthority.org/
P-P-Pick up a free battery! Smoke alarms save lives. But the DIY fitted alarm you should have in your home can only save your life with a working battery. nhs.uk/actfast
Performance update We record and report on our performance to our Boards and to our Tenant Management Team. Our latest performance statistics show our performance at the end of November 2009. Rents - Collection Rate New Charter Homes Our Target 99.8% Our Performance 100.5% Relets - Average no. of Days Taken to Let Homes Our Target 28 days Our Performance 34 days Relets - Homes Let Each Month Our Target 125 homes Our Performance 167 homes Repairs - Emergencies - % Within 4-Hour Response Our Target 99% Our Performance 100% Repairs - Urgents - % Within 7-Day Response Our Target 99% Our Performance 100% Repairs - Routine - % Within 28-Day Response Our Target 97% Our Performance 98.3%
Now, to coincide with the Fire Service campaign, we encourage all tenants to test their smoke alarm once a week and change the battery at least once a year (unless it’s a ten-year alarm). And to promote awareness and reward our thancs! cardholders, we have supplies of the PP3 9volt battery used for almost all smoke alarms to give away! We’ve stocks of this Duracell battery at all our shops (addresses on page 8), and you can get one on production of your thancs! card. But once they’re gone, they’re gone...
7
For your safety
Tenant Management Team
When we make major alterations to your home’s electrical circuits, we install a smoke detector. It’s connected to the mains supply, but also has a special longlife battery in case of power cuts.
The Tenant Management Team formed last year, introducing resident-led self regulation to New Charter. The team has a different role to existing involvement activities. It has a governance role within the organisation and looks at key areas, such as performance management, service provision, service standards and business direction. It commissions work for other methods of involvement, such as working groups, mystery shopping and resident inspection projects. The team takes its findings to the Boards and the Group Management Team and recommends changes.
We now test these as part of our gas servicing and safety check. And in our first few months, incredibly we’ve come across homes where the smoke detector has been removed or the battery taken out!
This opportunity gives residents the clout to get something done if things aren't up to scratch. If you are interested in joining the team, please contact by the website or email address, below.
Aside from the personal risk, it is unlawful for unqualified people to alter the electrical facilities. Removing a working smoke detector puts the whole household at risk.
The Tenant Management Team welcomed three new members in recent months. Vera Anderton Vera is currently Chair of Assheton Residents’ Association and has been involved for many years to improve the Ashton town centre tower block. She is a member of many involvement working groups and has worked closely with us in the past to ensure we are working in the interest of tenants.
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service offers a free home safety risk assessment, including fitting free smoke alarms. Contact them on 0800 555815.
Please recycle after use
Christine Burgess Chris is newly appointed to the team and is looking forward to the challenge of scrutinising our practices at New Charter. Chris comes to the team with a vast knowledge of housing, having worked for other landlords for several years.
How to contact us
Ann Daly Ann is the most recent recruit to TMT. She joined because she has a strong desire to assist in all areas that improve life for tenants. She wants to help New Charter better understand tenants’ needs and points of view. She has just completed a level 2 and 3 NVQ at college, an achievement of which she is justifiably proud.
Our normal working hours are: Mon to Wed Thursday Friday
8.30am to 5pm 8.30am to 4.30pm 8.30am to 4pm
Please note our shops open at 9am Monday to Friday and are located at: 2 Henrietta Street, Ashton-underLyne; 9 Albert Street, Denton; 12 Clarendon Street, Hyde; 63 Grosvenor Street, Stalybridge.
Since our last issue, we’d like to thank Donald Hindley and Thelma Ball who have recently left the Tenant Management Team.
Main Switchboard: 0161 331 2000 Reporting Repairs: 0800 027 0828 We are open for your repair calls from 8am until 6pm. You can also report repairs online at www.newcharter.co.uk
Lettings Enquiries: 0161 331 2345
The team is currently working on its website, which it plans to be fully active by mid-February 2010. Contact the team direct at: www.tenantmanagementteam.org.uk
Out of hours emergency telephone calls: 0800 027 0828 General Tenancy Enquiries: 0161 331 2400
8